


A mistake

by von_gikkingen



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Excessive Drinking, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-13 11:29:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20173522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/von_gikkingen/pseuds/von_gikkingen
Summary: “Hey, Starlord...” she says and she sounds sleepy and still plenty inebriated and there's just nothing he can reply to that with. Because the pleasant warmth as she nestles into his side is not something he can say no to...





	A mistake

“Oh. You’re awake,” Nebula says tonelessly.

“Oh not just awake. Freaking out…” he starts. Then, realizing she is probably the last person he should be having this conversation with he makes himself shut up in a hurry. Because she’s not his biggest fan on the best of days – and this would be one of those days when he managed to get so drunk he apparently slept with one of the few friends she had and…

“Is this about Carol?”

“What? No. Why would this be about…” he gets out before realizing that… no, she did _not_ sound angry. “You _know_?”

“I can get drunk Quill – blackout drunk even. But I can always just replay what I forgot,” she says, tapping her temple meaningfully. “What?” she frowns seeing his disbelieving expression.

“You don’t sound upset.”

“Why should I sound upset?” asks Nebula.

“Oh, I don’t know - because she’s your friend?”

“Who works too much and deserves to have some fun.”

He can feel his jaw drop. “Who _are you_? No, I’m serious. I mean I know you’re… pragmatic or whatever but you can’t possibly mean that. Do you understand how weird this is going to be when she wakes up?”

“Weird for who?” says Nebula and she’s almost smiling for just a moment.

“Me,” he realizes. “I really hate you sometimes. And I _will_ try to make this weird for you too, just so you know.”

“And you’re going to fail because why exactly am I supposed to have a problem with this?”

“_I used to date your sister_,” he reminds her. And he’s really trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice but he’s doing a poor job of it.

“And you were the first one to admit how mindblowing it was that you actually managed to stay monogamous…” he hears Rocket mumble sleepily, only then realizing the raccoon was curled up half-asleep under the table this whole time. “We all know your track record with women, Quill. This surprises no one…”

“I think it might have surprised him,” comments Nebula wryly.

“_I’m in mourning_,” he snaps. Not even sure which one of them he’s angry at here.

“In mourning, right. But that is one of the excuses your people use when they want to make terrible decisions,” adds Rocket, grinning. “We’ve been around terrans for a while. We know the deal.”

“We do,” confirms Nebula.

“Well, here’s the thing you two experts missed,” he says. “If someone is about to make a stupid decision while drunk you _stop them_. That’s what friends do,” he adds, aiming a glare at Rocket who apparently finally decided he had enough of lying on the floor among empty bottles.

“Unless they know how much easier you are to deal with when you’ve gotten laid,” says the raccoon under his breath. And he can just feel his glare intensify. “I’m just saying… Besides – this wasn’t just you. It’s not like any of us can get Carol not to do what she decided she’s definitely doing. Do you have any idea how powerful she is?”

“I _do_. And now I’m the suicidal idiot who has to tell her that this was fun – presumably, since I don’t remember a thing – but…”

“Always so dramatic,” sighs Nebula. And to his surprise locates somehow still not completely empty bottle of beer and hands it to him. “Drink this.”

“No, I think I had plenty.”

“But you are so much easier to deal with when you’re drunk,” she says, taking his hand and closing it around the neck of the bottle. And there is no arguing with the pressure of those metal fingers.

“You know that alcohol doesn’t actually solve problems, right? It _creates them_,” he says pointedly. Before emptying the bottle in one long swallow because, okay, it’s not _such_ a bad idea. “What am I going to do? Either of you have any ideas?”

“Nope. You made your bed,” smirks Rocket. “But tell you what. I _think_ there might still be some beer left over…” he says and disappears from sight for a moment. And it doesn’t even surprise him when he indeed holds a couple of bottles on his return. “Is this going to help?”

“Definitely not,” he utters darkly, putting down the empty bottle and opening the one Rocket is handing him. “You know, one of these days you’ll get wasted enough to do something like this,” he says to Nebula after finishing the beer, “and I’m going to…”

“Yes?” she says, quirking an eyebrow.

“Say absolutely nothing because you’re very scary,” he finds himself saying even though that was _not_ how that sentence was supposed to end.

“That’s what I thought, Quill.”

Finding he has nothing to say he just… empties another bottle. And another. And… “I should probably get back there. It’ll be worse if I’m not there when she wakes up, right?”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Peter Quill in bad idea mode,” chuckles Rocket.

“Oh, shut up…”

Ignoring the laughter that follows him as he goes he heads for his cabin. Stepping over the passed out Drax… And it’s _not_ a bad idea. Obviously it’s not. There is no way this can get any worse at this point and she really made for a lovely view, only partially covered in the tangled up bedsheets and…

At least she’s still asleep when he gets back into the room and that is a relief. At least he can maybe have a few hours of rest before he has to have _that_ awkward conversation.

He gets in the bed, careful to keep a safe distance between them and proceeds to have an intense staring contest with the ceiling. To let the self-disgust flow through him because it wasn’t that long ago he shared this bed with Gamora and the loss of her still felt like something almost close to physical pain. The guilt he feels? He deserves to be feeling it. All those dark, heavy thoughts that keep him from finding sleep again are something he earned. Because this? He shouldn’t have done this. Being drunk was no excuse. 

But thoughts like that are something that makes one reach out for comfort wherever it can be found and he too late realizes he’s been running his fingers through her hair and...

“Hey, Starlord...” she says and she sounds sleepy and still plenty inebriated and there's just nothing he can reply to that with. Because the pleasant warmth as she nestles into his side is not something he can say no to, even if he knows better than to do anything as stupid as to reach for her and…

He just pulls the sheets up to cover her bare breasts and listens to her breathing. And when he glances at her sleeping face he realizes that he’s been smiling. Because she looks relaxed in a way he never saw her in waking. Because now there is no weight bearing down on her, she’s not someone gifted with great powers and therefore feeling responsible for half the tragedies in the galaxy. She’s just a woman. A beautiful one at that, it can’t possibly be denied. And she’s comforting just by being here, more so than she was before, during those half-remembered moments of drunken sex.

_That_ was a mistake. This wasn’t.

This closeness actually _is_ soothing. Makes the darkness fade just a little bit. Makes it all just a little easier to bear.

...

“Oh, Nebula is going to kill me...” he hears and he is laughing before he even opens his eyes. But hearing that, realizing her horrified proclamation woke him up she immediately adds, “Peter I am _so sorry_. I have absolutely nothing to say for myself. This is... just terrible...”

“Well, first of all it wasn’t _that bad_. Second of all Nebula is going to surprise you. I’m still not over her attitude about this.”

“What?”

“I already had that conversation earlier. She seems to be of the opinion you needed this. Also stopping drunk people from making really bad judgement calls? _Not_ in her job description.”

“Can you be serious for five seconds?" she says, exasperated. "I'm trying to apologise...”

“I know. And there is probably no way to convince you not to do that so I’m just... Changing the subject. Because I was dead serious. Already talked to her earlier and she was weirdly okay with this...” he says, forcing himself to sit up. “Unlike either of us. Because... Yeah, wasn’t a great idea.”

“I _am _really sorry.”

“And I _am_ an actual adult. I could have said no. Can you please look less... guilty? We’re dealing with two bad cases of really poor judgement that happened to coincide. Which would make us equally responsible.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” she insists. And she sounds so angry at herself and… He just sighs.

“You want to make this better? Fine. Come here...”

Hesitantly she does. And he startles a laugh out of her when all he does is puts his arms around her. “Really?” he hears her mumble into his chest.

“Yeah, I know. If I need a hug all I need to do is ask Drax... Weirdly, though, I prefer this...”

“I do feel terrible about this.”

“And I feel terrible about the fact you feel terrible. Wonder if it’ll magically make us better at not doing things while not in full possession of our senses... But I _don’t_ think it works like that...”

"Peter?"

"Yes?"

"How much do you remember?" she says and he has the feeling she was only able to get the words out because he can't really see her expression right now.

"Not a lot," he says. "Why?"

She lets out a shaky breath and says nothing, only returns his hug and softly, almost too low to hear, she says, "Yeah, this was a mistake."

But it doesn't sound like she means it, not quite. It sounds like she's wondering if there ever will be a time when it won't be a mistake. Later, after he had the time to heal. And that tells him all he needs to know about how much more she remembers about what happened between them tonight. And how she feels about it happening again, possibly under less problematic circumstances...

"I should... put some clothes on," she says then, freeing herself from his embrace.

He doesn't argue with that. How can he...? He has way too much to think about all of a sudden. Because he knows he didn't imagine it - just the slightest hint of regret in her voice. And it was so hard to credit, her being absolutely out of his league. _But_... The truth was that it absolutely was a mistake. _Tonight_.

And it was just as true that there was no telling what it might be when it came to other nights...

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, I really thought there will be some smut when I started writing this... didn't really come out that way...


End file.
